DSA PASSBACK

Close Up

Maria Ortega, Disability Services

Experts say scent is closely linked with memory and feeling; a remembered smell can trigger powerful emotional responses almost instantaneously.  If you doubt it, just ask Maria Ortega ‘03, Accommodations Counselor in the Department of Disability Services.  Maria’s parents moved the family to Bryan from Piedras Negras, Mexico, uprooting their school-aged children from familiar surroundings in hopes of finding a better quality of life.  It was a very stressful time for her, and certain smells—the ones found in a gymnasium or high-school cafeteria, for example—bring it all back. 

“Those are places where a lot of social interaction takes place,” she explains.  “Not knowing English, it was very stressful for me.  I was always anxious in gym class, because I couldn’t communicate with the other students.  So even now, when I go into a gymnasium, I get butterflies when the smell comes back.”

Thankfully, a lot of Spanish-speaking families lived in Bryan, and she was able to connect with their students.  They took her under their wings and walked her to classes so she wouldn’t get lost.  They even explained the gastronomical mysteries unique to U.S. school cuisine.

Maria grins as she remembers.  “The food was really different.  I remember one time I was getting chicken fingers at the cafeteria.  I asked one of the students who was with me, ‘Chicken fingers?’  He translated it literally, and I was like, ‘What?  Fingers?’  There were a lot of those little adjustments.”

Most of her school years have faded into a blur, but she does remember a few things.  Algebra was great, one of her best subjects, because math is a universal language—so, no communication or comprehension problems.  History was good, too, because she loved to read and the textbooks helped her hone her English—although she freely admits she didn’t know what she was writing when she first started matching phrases found in her textbooks with those found in her homework.  By the time she reached the 10^th grade, Maria reckons she was “somewhat proficient” in her new language.  She went on to pass all sections of the TAAS test, graduate and snag a job as a teaching assistant in the Bryan School District, helping in bilingual classes.

Back for More

Not long after she got her teaching assistant position, Maria decided she needed to go back to school, so she enrolled at Blinn while still working for the school district.  In 1999 she applied for a job with Texas A&M and was hired as a Clerk III in Student Life, where her supervisor let her flex her time so she could keep up with her classes.  Ultimately, Maria transferred to TAMU, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology ... and she’s not done yet.  This Fall, she started work toward a master’s in counseling at Prairie View A&M; she’ll be commuting in the evenings and weekends and taking some of her courses online.

Meanwhile, she’ll continue her work in Disability Services, handling a case load of 150—160 students per semester.  Aggies with disabilities look to Maria and her fellow accommodations counselors to arrange testing accommodations like extended testing time, testing away from the classroom, exam readers, exam scribes, large-print exams, and so on.  She also meets with prospective students to talk to them about the Disability Services’ registration process and the types of documentation they need to submit to the review committee. 

Asked what she likes best about her job, Maria smiles and says, “I like the interaction with students and their families best.  When they first arrive, they don’t know where to go, and it’s kind of a relief for them to know we’re here, and we’re going to be able to assist them ... they’re going to have one person on this huge campus who’s going to be a connection for them.”

The hardest part of the job is dealing with the fact that some of the Aggies she’s so invested in won’t always be successful in class.  She knows she can’t allow herself to get discouraged when that happens, but maintaining the necessary personal distance can be a real challenge. 

“This is it for me.”

Maria recently reached another important personal milestone when she and her husband Efren, a production manager for Alenco in Bryan, became United States citizens. 

“I wasn’t really sure about it at first,” she admits.  “My roots were in Mexico, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel saying, ‘I’m not a Mexican citizen anymore.’”  The birth of her son,  Octavio, changed things.  “We said, ‘We now have a kid, and he’s a U.S. citizen, so it would be nice if his parents were U.S. citizens, too.  We’re not going back to Mexico; we’re going to stay here.  We’ve got to get it done.’”

The day she took the oath of citizenship, any lingering doubts vanished.  “When the judge said, ‘You’re now a U.S. citizen,’ it felt really good.  Better than I thought it would feel.  And it was like, ‘Yeah ... this is it for me.’”

Thanks to her courage, hard work, and determination, Maria Ortega has come a long way since first coming to the U.S., progressing from anxious middle-school student to accommodations counselor with Disability Services working toward an advanced degree.  She attributes part of her success to the people she has worked with in the Division of Student Affairs. 

“The staff I’ve worked with have led and guided me along,” she says.  “All my cues for being a professional staff member have come from people who work here.  They take you in, they guide you along, they mentor you.  So I’m very happy I landed at Texas A&M in the Division of Student Affairs.”

Maria and Efren Ortega live in Bryan with their two children—four-year-old Octavio and his one-year-old sister, Isabel.  In her "spare" time, she translates the DSA Passback into Spanish.

Contributed by:

Kathy DiSanto, Communications Specialist

Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs

Generally Speaking

Texas A&M University Department of Residence Life Builds New Apartments!

The Gardens at University Apartments are currently under construction and will be ready for occupancy in August 2010.  250 new on-campus apartments have been designed with environmentally friendly LEED Silver design elements and are intended to meet the unique needs of graduate students, but any TAMU student (sophomore and above) is welcome to apply.   

The Gardens will be offering month to month leasing at competitive pricing.   The Gardens will have1 and 2 bedroom units with four different student and family friendly floor  plans to choose from.  Some  first floor premium units with covered patios, storage  closets and washer/dryers will be available.  All units will be fully  furnished.  

Features and amenities include:  Month to month leasing, fully furnished and ready to move-in, kitchen with refrigerator, stove/oven, microwave, garbage disposal and dishwasher, ceiling fans throughout, 80+ channels of satellite television and high speed Internet connection included in rent, walk in closets, 24-hour on-call maintenance, wireless access points in outdoor gathering areas, solid surface countertops, smooth surface cook tops,  laundromat on site, Community Center with computer lab, wireless hot spots, video library, lounges, kitchen and meeting rooms. There is convenient parking and campus bus stops throughout the complex.  

For more information visit us on the web at: http://reslife.tamu.edu/ua/TheGardens/ or contact Kate Kiernat, Coordinator of Apartment Services, 979. 845.2261, katek@housing.tamu.edu.

Contributed by:
Bonnie McDonnough, Residence Life

Spring Semester Reservation Information

Spring semester reservation information for space reserved through the University Center and HES :

We will start taking paper requests for the spring semester on Monday, November 16th, at 8am. These forms are available in our office and electronically via an email to c-scott@tamu.edu. We will start taking semester reservations via Virtual EMS (VEMS) beginning Friday, November 13th at 5pm. Each student organization may have one VEMS account. If a group would like to request a VEMS account, they may do so by emailing universitycenter@tamu.edu.  Please include the following:

• Name of the organization
• Phone, email and name of the president
• Phone, email and name of the advisor

You will need to request an account by Wednesday, November 11th, to have it activated by 5pm on the 13th.

Contributed by:
Cathy Scott, Hospitality and Event Services

Comings & Goings

Staff Arrivals and Departures

Howdy and welcome to ....
Student Health Services

• Dr. David Teller, Associate Director for Medical Services

Women's Resource Center

• Lauren Murray, Graduate Assistant

Wishing the best to these folks who've moved on ....

Office of the Vice President

• Patty Kelley, Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs, now happily retired and living in College Station!

Up 'N Comers

Promotions, Awards, and Other Kudos!

Please join us in congratulating these folks on their accomplishments!

• Ms. Barbara Schumacher, Senior Office Associate in Student Life Studies, passed two exams to earn her ratings as a Certified Professional Secretary and a Certified Administrative Professional.

• Residence Hall Director Ebonish Lamar has been accepted to attend the Social Justice Training Institute in Tuscon, AZ (December 1-5).  The Institute provides a forum for the professional and personal development of social justice educators and practitioners.

Please join us in congratulating these award winners ....

• Amber Arseneaux '09, Administrative Assistant in Greek Life, recently received the Alpha Delta Pi Ruth Pretty Palmer Panhellenic Award for leadership and exceptional service to College and Alumnae Panhellenics.  Amber is an alumnae member of TAMU Zeta Lambda.

Presentations and articles by DSA staff members:

• Kelly Cox, Program Director with the MSC, recently presented "Defining, Communicating, and Understanding the Advisor Role" at a workshop for the Student Leaders Institute.  She is also serving as Chair for the Publication and Media Showcase Awards for the 2009 National Orientation Directors Association (NODAC), coordinating submissions from more than 100 institutions and the competition judging for 282 entries in 13 different categories.

• Lyndon Pryor, MSC Program Advisor, recently contributed an article to the October 2009 issue of Campus Activities Programming.  The article, entitled "Why Should I Take My Headphones Off?  Engaging Millennials by Meeting Them 'Where They Are,'" discusses the role of campus programs and how to engage the current generation of students.  You can read it at http://www.naca.org/NACA/3dissue/october_2009/start.htm.

• Nick Zuniga, Assistant Director of Greek Life, will present "From Big Man on Campus to Metro-sexuals: Exploring the Changes in the Perception of Masculinity for College Males" at the 2009 Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 4.

• Greek Life Graduate Assistant Wes McCormack has been named to the 2009 Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors Annual Meeting Graduate Staff.  The Staff is essential to the volunteer-meeting, providing much of the onsite support to the Central Office Staff, Annual Meeting Planning Team, and other Annual Meeting volunteers.

Short & Sweet

Get Involved, Develop Professionally, Keep Abreast of Events

For currently enrolled students:

• Career Assessment Workshops (Using Strong Interest Inventory)
  October 26, 11:45—12:45 p.m.
  October 27, 3:30—4:30 p.m.
  November 3, 1:30—2:30 p.m.
  November 5, 2:00—3:00 p.m.
  Cain Hall B—103

• Aggies Are We (Free rides to Wal-Mart for students without transportation)
  November 7 & November 22
  Visit http://fish.tamu.edu for pickup times and locations

Staff are welcome to attend:

• MSC Month of Giving (November)
  Help improve lives of families here in Bryan/College Station, Austin, and San Antonio.  Or let service members stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan know they’re appreciated.  Giving bins are located in Commons, Wehner, and Rudder lobbies.  Also in the Academic Plaza between the Academic Building and the Cushing Library.  (Please note:  Donations of mp3 players and/or CD players should be brought to the 2nd Floor, West Wing Koldus.) 
  Items being collected:
  blankets
  new and gently used t-shirts and clothing
  children’s books
  school supplies
  mp3 and CD players for Austin State Hospital
  toys, backpacks, other materials for children aged 6 mos. to 17 yrs.
  toiletries, non-perishable snacks, books, and magazines for our troops

• Division Program:  “Two Cents on Good Spending Sense”
  November 4, 8 a.m.
  601 Rudder

• MSC OPAS Presents Jeff Corwin—Live!  Onstage!  With Animals!
  November 6, 7:30 p.m.
  Rudder Auditorium (Tickets still available, including a limited number of 2-for-1 tickets with the coupon available at http://www.mscopas.org under “MSC OPAS NEWS”)

• Voices of the Past and Present (Veterans’ Day Concert featuring music and veterans’ speaking about their experiences and discussing veterans’ issues)
  November 11, 7 p.m.
  Rudder Theatre

• Cannonball 5K Run/Walk (Fund-raiser for testicular cancer research)
  November 14, 9:30 a.m.
  TAMU Campus
  Register at http://healthed.tamu.edu/pdfs/Registration-Form.pdf

• MSC OPAS Presents Riverdance
  November 17—19, 7:30 p.m.
  Rudder Auditorium (Tickets still available)

Job Market

Opportunities for Students:

MSC

• Applications are always being accepted for MSC OPAS Student Programming Committee  Aggies interested in helping bring the performing arts to Aggieland should go to http://www.mscopas.org and click on "TAMU Students" to apply.

Residence Life

• Residence Life is currently accepting applications for Resident Advisors (RAs).  For information on the selection process, please visit http://reslife.tamu.edu/jobs/student.  Apply online at http://ra.tamu.edu/.
  Application deadline for Spring 2010 vacancies:  November 9, 2009 (11:59 p.m.)
  Application deadline for Fall 2010/Spring 2011 vacancies:  February 8, 2010

Question of the Month

“How many flu shots did Student Health Services provide free of charge during its recent annual seasonal flu shot campaign?”